Page 1 of 7 Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Selection of Project Management Consultants- 2015
Response to Queries- Pre-bid meeting by 11:00 hrs on 14th September, 2015
Sr. No. RFP Document Reference (Number/Page) Content of RFP requiring clarification
Points of Clarification required Response by PFRDA
I) PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (PwCPL)
1 Section 2.2 (B),
point 1 to 6, page 13- 14
It is proposed that the NPS architecture would have multiple CRA(s). Hence, PMC would be required to propose solutions for:...
... ... ...
6. Other unforeseen challenges
Though the RFP mentions PMC organization to deploy minimum of two resources , we understand amount of work required for monitoring one CRA as per current scenario would increase to almost double, in case there are two or more CRA’s in system, because there would be different reports, different deliverables etc.
We foresee that the additional manpower may be required to manage the work, hence additional manpower may be deployed based on staff augmentation model on basis of per person month rates applicable. Kindly incorporate the clause for staff
For the time being there is only one CRA, however there can be more than one entity performing the function of CRA in due course. The number of personnel required would be reviewed at that point. For the time being the person required would be as indicated in RFP.
Page 2 of 7 augmentation at additional charges as
an option in case of assessment additional requirement on mutual consent.
2 Section 2.7,
Reporting
arrangements (2), page 16
PFRDA will have a right to deduct charge/ fee payable to PMC on pro rata basis on the value of the contracts for the period of absence of the resources
There is no clause on permissible leaves for the resources. So would that mean pro rata deduction for every leave that the resource takes?
As per our policy each employee is eligible for specified casual leaves and accumulated Earned leaves. Thus we request PFRDA to appropriately clarify/ modify this clause.
The clause of the RFP stands.
3 Section 8.1
Conditions of
contract, page 27
The grounds for termination of PMC, will be:
a. PMC's inability to perform the duties and requirements as would be specified in the contract. b. Any future direct involvement
of PMC with CRA in
development of IT infrastructure for NPS operations.
The grounds of termination are not clear. A termination right for material breach may be had by both the parties, with a reasonable cure period of say 30 days. Moreover, an objective and consultative process should proceed before the PFRDA chooses to exercise its termination rights under this clause. To ensure that the clause is not interpreted in a subjective manner, a mechanism should be put in place to objectively capture service related
defaults and allocate the
accountability to an appropriate party
in a transparent manner. Most
importantly, upon termination, PMC team must be paid for the services performed by team till the date of termination.
1. The clause stands. The matter will be examined in a fair and transparent manner and procedure & rule of natural justice will be followed.
2. PMC will be paid for the services rendered till the date of termination. 3. The intent of the clause is that the PMC should not deal with CRA directly without the approval of PFRDA.
Page 3 of 7 Direct involvement clause should be
limited to the contractual period between PFRDA and Firm, and also to the specific resource, however not at the organization level.
4 Section 7:
Payment Terms
Page 26
2. PMC is responsible for a set of a deliverables on a timely basis. The quality and timeliness of these deliverables shall directly affect the payment terms
Request PFRDA to provide detailed acceptance procedure for deliverables
Parameters for deliverables are well
defined, however subject to
modification in future.
II) KPMG
1 Clause 4.3, Sl 1,
Page 21
The bidder should be a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 since last 3 years
The criteria should also allow Indian registered partnership firms also. Request you to kindly update the eligibility criteria accordingly.
The clause of the RFP stands.
2 Clause 4.3, Sl 6,
Page 21
The Firm/Agency should have at‐least one of the certifications – CMMi3 to CMMi5/ISO 9000
These types of certificates are usually found with IT Service Companies. Consulting firms usually do not have such certificates. We are a firm which help companies get CMMi3 to CMMi5 / ISO 9000 certifications. Request you to kindly remove this criterion as it prevents most of the competitive bidders from participating for this tender.
Eligibility condition for the
prospective entity is well defined and no change is envisaged at this stage.
3 Page 29,31 CERTIFICATE AS TO
AUTHORIZED SIGNATORIES
Please allow the certificate signed by Deputy CEO / CEO / Chief Operating Officer.
Authorized signatories can be any person authorized by Board to sign the certificates.
4 Clause 2.1.5,
Page 15
Assist PFRDA on all matters relating to and incidental to the monitoring of CRA(s) system
Request you to please elaborate the scope for this point
Broad parameters of functions
assigned to PMC are already defined. Functions of CRA would be as per the
Page 4 of 7
implementation and operations. PFRDA (Central Recordkeeping
Agency) Regulations, 2015.
5 Clause 2.2.A.5,
page 13
Monitoring of CRA planned downtime activities.
Are we responsible to review the downtime activity reports? Will the
planned downtime activities be
conducted within a specific timeline?
Yes
6 Clause 2.3.4,
Page 14
Generation of quarterly report on planned downtime activity.
Is there any specific application that generates automated reports or this is done manually?
This report is system generated (in coordination with CRA).
7 Liability cap We noticed that there is no
limitation on our liability under the RFP. Request you to limit our liability to one time the fees we will receive from PFRDA under this mandate.
Will be discussed separately with the successful bidder. Also, any penalty/ liability shall be in terms of PFRDA Act, 2013.
III) Ernst & Young LLP
1 Section 4.3 Minimum Eligibility Criteria S.No. 1 Page Number 21
"The bidder should be a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 since last 3 years"
Request you to modify as most of the reputed consultancy firms are Limited
Liability Firms.
It is requested that clause be amended as "The Bidder should be a company registered under Indian Companies Act, 1956/ as LLP or partnership firm as per LLP Act, 2008 since last 3 years " to allow for partnership firms for bidding.
The clause of the RFP stands.
2 Pg. 20 Section 4.2
EARNEST MONEY
DEPOSIT (EMD)
The EMD of Rs. 100000/- (Rupees One Lakh) only in the form of Bank Draft/Bankers Cheque or by electronic transfer
We request PFRDA to provide more details on EMD whether it is refundable or not and in case it is refundable request PFRDA to provide
The EMD is refundable and it would be returned within 90 days from the date of opening of commercial bid in usual circumstances.
Page 5 of 7 (NEFT/RTGS) must be submitted
in the favour of Pension Fund
Regulatory and Development
Authority payable at New Delhi.
timelines for validity of EMD.
3 Pg. 27 Section 8. PMC CONTRACT CONDITIONS 8.1. CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT
1. The contract shall be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of contract signing. PFRDA shall have the option to extend the duration of the contract for a further period of 12 months.
Request to modify as:
The contract shall be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of contract signing. PFRDA shall have the option to extend the duration of the contract for a further period of 12 months on
mutually acceptable terms and
conditions.
The clause of the RFP stands.
4 Pg. 21, Section
4.3 Minimum
Eligibility Criteria S.No. 5
The responding company should have made net profit for the last three(3) financial Years (FY 14-15, FY 13-14, FY 12-13,) as revealed by audited balance sheet
Request to modify as:
The responding company should have made net profit of at least 50 Cr. in last three(3) financial Years (FY 14-15, FY 13-14, FY 12-13,) as revealed by audited balance sheet
The clause of the RFP stands.
5 Page 14, 2.2.
DETAILED
SCOPE OF
WORK OF PMC, B, Point 3
Audit of operations and IT systems.
Request to provide details of audit like frequency of audit, what all IT systems will be part of audit, will it be business process audit or security audit.
PMC would not conduct the audit. They are supposed to examine the audit report submitted by CRA and provide their comments/observations.
6 Pg. 15, 2.4.
MONITORING DATA
STORAGE, Point 2
Retrieving and sending the
information, as and when needed by PFRDA and in required formats
Request to provide more details on this, will it be responsibility of Project Management Consultant to retrieving data from systems?
PMC may be required to retrieve details like MIS, performance reports, verification of Bills etc. from CRA system as and when required.
7 Page 15, 2.2.
DETAILED
SCOPE OF
WORK OF PMC,
Arbitrations / Dispute resolution mechanism
Kindly clarify will it require legal aspects also?
Page 6 of 7 B, Point 5
8 Limitation of Liability Clause Kindly add the following clause to the
terms and conditions:
Client (and any others for whom Services are provided) shall not recover from EY, in contract or tort, under statute or otherwise, any amount with respect to loss of profit, data or goodwill, or any other consequential, incidental, indirect, punitive or special damages in connection with claims arising out of this Agreement or otherwise relating to the Services, whether or not the likelihood of such loss or damage was contemplated. Client (and any others for whom Services are provided) shall not recover from EY, in contract or tort, including indemnification obligations under this contract, under statute or otherwise, aggregate damages in excess of the fees actually paid for the Services that directly caused the loss in connection with claims arising out of this Agreement or otherwise relating to the Services.
Will be discussed separately with the successful bidder.
9 Report clause Kindly add the following clause to the
terms and conditions:
Any information, advice,
recommendations or other content of
Page 7 of 7 any reports, presentations or other
communications we provide under this Agreement (“Reports”), other than Client Information, are for Client's internal use only (consistent with the purpose of the particular Services) including Client's board of directors, its audit committee, or its statutory auditors and not for disclosure externally outside your organization. Client may not rely on any draft Report and EY shall not be required to update its Final Report.
10 Termination clause Kindly add the following clause to the
terms and conditions:
Either Party may terminate this Agreement by serving 15 days prior written notice to the other party. Upon termination EY shall be entitled to receive payments of the Services performed, work in progress and expenses incurred by it, till the date of such termination.